Prince Louis and Prince George’s special treatment is something that Prince William had to wait for.
Prince Louis’s cheeky antics at royal events like Trooping the Colour often attract the attention of fans but it’s his outfit at his latest appearance which could be seen as very significant. The Prince and Princess of Wales’s youngest son joined them and Prince George and Charlotte for the first time at the Together at Christmas carol concert on 8th December.
Prince Louis was dressed smartly in a checked shirt, long navy trousers and a matching coat and boots. However, the decision for him not to have to wear shorts is interesting as it highlights Prince Louis and Prince George’s special treatment that their father apparently never enjoyed.
Over the years even in winter Prince Louis has typically been seen wearing shorts and long socks for more formal or public outings with his family. This includes Christmas last year where he made his debut walking to church in Sandringham wearing a very similar blue coat, matching shorts, socks and shoes.
Some fans might have thought this was a little odd at the time given the chilly weather, however it’s previously been suggested that it’s traditional for royal boys to wear shorts until they’re around eight years old. Opening up to Harper’s Bazaar in 2018, etiquette expert William Hanson claimed that it’s a “silent class marker”.
“It's a very English thing to dress a young boy in shorts,” he alleged, “Trousers are for older boys and men, whereas shorts on young boys is one of those silent class markers that we have in England."
He reflected that “times are (slowly) changing”, however he thinks that trousers on a young boy “is considered quite middle class – quite suburban”. In his opinion, “no self-respecting aristo or royal” would “want to be considered suburban”.
Meanwhile, Editor-in-Chief of Majesty Magazine Ingrid Seward echoed this sentiment back in 2014 when she expressed her belief to People that the age of eight is typically where the tradition of wearing shorts stops.
“It is shorts until you’re 8 and then ‘woo, you’re in long trousers,’” she said. “They suddenly feel very grown up.”
Of course, this rule has clearly been relaxed a little over the years as Prince Louis and Prince George’s special treatment shows. Prince George was five when he wore trousers outside in the Wales family’s 2018 Christmas card photo that was taken by Matt Porteous.
He also wore trousers for his first time walking to church on Christmas Day and has regularly worn them to attend sporting events with his parents. Now Prince Louis has now attended a more formal outing with his family in trousers at just five years old too. This was something that Prince George and Louis’s dad Prince William didn’t get to do until he was around the more traditional age.
He wore long trousers to the Easter and Christmas Day services when he was 7 in 1989 and to other public events that year. However, Prince William was generally pictured wearing shorts when he was six years old or under. It seems King Charles and the late Princess Diana could've stuck a little more strictly to the supposed shorts rule.
In contrast, Prince William and Kate appear to be taking a more modern and relaxed approach. Prince Louis and Prince George’s special treatment has seen them switch up wearing shorts and trousers a little more freely. We’ll have to wait and see if Prince Louis begins to wear trousers more often now despite his young age, but the precedent is at least there for him to dress a little more warmly on colder days.
